Aspects of the present invention relate to social networks, message boards, online mail clients and the like, and more particularly to a method, system and computer program product for providing a graph segment representing a gist or summary of an online social network conversation.
Online social networks are a universal mechanism to connect people and information in logical and organized ways which enable sharing and processing of information between the members of the social network. Common mechanisms for sharing and processing information on online social networks may include, but are not necessarily limited to, a wall or virtual wall or message board where a user or member of the social network can post messages for other users or members; an activity stream which may be a list of messages or posts received by a user or member and may also include a list of messages or posts sent by the user or member; a timeline that may chronologically list a series of events, and profiles of users or members that can be accessed for information about a particular user or member. These mechanisms enable users or members to rapidly share information with others and gather information from others in the network. Often when engaged in online social media conversations, a conversation may span multiple views of the social network making it difficult for a user to understand the gist or main idea associated with the conversation. The user may mistakenly disregard the history of the conversation, especially if the conversation is lengthy and/or extends over a considerable span of time, for the last few messages posted to the conversation. This may provide the user with a false understanding of the gist or summary of the conversation. Accordingly, there is a need to provide an abbreviated or summarized view of the conversation.